Illuminate SF

About 4 year(s) ago by Inn at Union Square

Illuminate SF -

*Includes both permanent and temporary exhibits

The San Francisco Bay area offers visitors scenic views throughout the year. As the holidays are approaching, you can make your trip merrier with a citywide light show and art gallery. The show will be framed by six specific events.

Take a self-guided tour of The Bay Lights, by Leo Villareal, whose luminous show will take place at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, north side of western span. The Bay Lights boasts the biggest LED light sculpture, each light individually programmed for maximum impact. Check out how these 25,000 white lights look in unison at 1.8 miles wide and 500 feet tall. Visually stunning, this is a site the whole family can appreciate. You can get a great glimpse of the Bay Bridge light sculpture from the Ferry Building to Pier 33. This exhibit will be display from dusk through dawn until March 2015, so you can plan to include this sightseeing attraction to your next trip.

You can also take a look at Firefly by Ned Kahn, located at 525 Golden Gate Avenue at Polk Street. Come to the Civic Center for a collection that celebrates environmental art. The almost 12-story kinetic sculpture is exquisitely crafted using thousands upon thousands of clear-polycarbonate panel squares. Flapping freely in Bay breeze, the art in motion brings to mind the ebb and flow of waves. LED lights illuminate the display, with colors that look like fireflies. Amazingly, this magnificent illuminated art requires less energy than a 75-watt light bulb.

Also included in the Civic Art Collection, you can check out Language of the Birds by Brian Goggin and Dorka Keehn. This permanent sculpture is perched at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Avenues. This unique work marks the first solar power-offset public artwork in California. Come explore this landmark light show, which also includes Kate Raudenbush’s Future Past in Hayes Valley’s Patricia’s Green, plus exhibits at the Exploratorium, and famed light artist James Turrell’s Three Gems at de Young Museum, Osher Sculpture Garden, and Golden Gate Park.